Member Article

Master sommelier pair to open new French restaurant in the City

Two master sommeliers are to open a new restaurant focused on French cuisine after snapping up a site in the City of London.

Xavier Rousset and Gearoid Devaney, both experienced sommeliers with significant pedigree, have acquired the 3,198 sq ft site on Gresham Street, with a rent of £82,000 per annum and an undisclosed six-figure premium.

The site, which replaces the cocktail bar ‘Be at One’, is spread over a 1,090 sq ft ground floor, a first floor of 1,129 sq ft, and a 979 st fq basement, with a lease that runs until 2035.

Serving French cuisine, the restaurant will have a particular focus on wines from around the world, as both Rousset and Devaney, who are both former recipients of the UK Sommelier of the Year award, draw on their experience working in top restaurants across Europe.

Restaurant Property acted on behalf of the two sommeliers in this deal and will be the restaurant agents’ second agreement involving Rousset, after advising him on a deal for his ‘Blandford Comptoir’ Mediterranean restaurant in Marylebone.

Commenting after the pair had taken up the new lease, Matthew Englender, Surveyor at Restaurant Property, said: “Xavier Rousset and Gearoid Devaney are extremely talented master sommeliers so I am delighted to have helped secure a site for them within the heart of the city.

“Restaurant Property regularly acquires sites for exciting and interesting concepts and I look forward to working with them in the future.”

The new, as yet unnamed restaurant is expected to open this summer.